Crossing the Line
by shirasagi
Summary: A computer experiment gone haywire sends Jenrya and Terriermon into a different world. But, they quickly discover that this was no accident...
1. Not just a TV Show

There are some things that I do own, but Digimon isn't one of them. Sorry. I'm not the heir of Bandai or Disney or... whoever owns Digimon nowadays.

This is an 02/03 crossover. At first, it'll only focus on Jenrya in this new world, but, of course, the others will be joining him shortly. There may or may not be shounen ai later on in the story, depending on how I want to do this, but it won't be for a long time, it might only involve one or two couples, and any romance (in the sense of romantic fluff) won't be major. Sorry. I have the hardest time writing that stuff. Another thing, none of the movies or the audio books or any of that stuff took place. While most provided really cool background stories...there are going to be plot conflicts if those things remain in my story continuity. So, pretend that they don't exist for a while, okay? Especially the Tamers' ones; the Adventure/02 ones don't conflict as much as those do, but just to safe...

Oh, and unless otherwise stated, the story takes place in Jenrya's (Henry in the English Dub) POV, okay?

----------

I can remember every single thing about that day. The day my soul was torn to shreds. The Digimon… they left us. It was all Dad's fault. I tried to forgive him, I really did. I told him many times that we never had a choice. It was "for the greater good" and all of that. I never did blame him for everything, really. But, truth is, I was never the same again. Terriermon… besides being my best friend… had become a part of me. I couldn't function at all for almost a week after that day. Perhaps this is what Shibumi had meant when he said that we were "created for each other."

And, all he could say to me was "Moumentai." He always felt the need to say that particular Chinese phrase to me. But, I don't think he understood the gravity of the situation. Everything was not "Moumentai." I don't think everything would ever be "Moumentai" again. We would never see each other anymore…

He was always telling me to relax. Everything was going to be just fine. Things would work themselves out somehow. But now...Never. Never again. I would never be able to "Moumentai," since the very existence of that word reminded me of him.

And then, a few months later, Takato found the Digital Gate in the park. We could now go to the Digital World and back whenever we wanted to. I had never felt so happy in my life. When I saw the gate, the first thing I did was embrace Takato, and he and I started jumping up and down all over the place. Ruki just scoffed at us, but it was obvious that she was just as happy as us. We went to the Digital World, all of us.

And, of course, all of the Digimon were right there waiting for us. Within seconds, I was knocked down by an overjoyed Terriermon. Even Leomon was there. He and Juri had a very heartwarming reunion. Apparently, Impmon himself went to Zhuqiaomon and asked him to restore Leomon from the data that he had absorbed. The Sovereign decided to make a special exception in this case.

All we did on that day was run around and play with our Digimon. That's all we could do, I guess, with all of that happy energy running through all of us.

The Gate was always there afterwards; of course, we went as often as our lives would allow. Unfortunately, the Juggernaut Program was still in effect, so the Digimon couldn't come home with us. Apparently, a side effect of my little stint as Mega Gargomon was that a permanent field was created that blocked all signals from the Digital World except our gate, which also didn't let our Digimon through. But, since we knew that we could see them whenever we wanted, we didn't mind so much. At least we didn't have to worry about hiding or feeding them anymore.

Eventually it became a tradition among the seven of us (Takato, Ruki, Hirokazu, Kenta, Juri, Shuichion and me) to go to the Digital World every Sunday, and spend the entire day there with our Digimon. For some reason, we were almost never attacked by wild Digimon anymore. In fact, we almost never ran into other Digimon at all except for a few that we eventually became friends with. Maybe, the absence of the D-Reaper program resulted in a decrease in the hostility of the Digimon. Or maybe, since Calumon had digivolved all of the Digimon to the Mega Level, there was now no need to fight and absorb data to become stronger. I don't think we ever complained, but it was still somewhat sad not to see more Digimon.

Sometimes, we even ran into Ryo, and he would spend time with us. Sometimes Ai and Mako joined us, especially later on as they got older. Impmon was pretty happy about that. Our social life was pretty restricted because of this, though. We had very few real friends outside our little group, but I don't think we cared. Each one of us had so much fun with our Digimon that none of us wanted to do anything else.

I had thought that the rift in my soul had mended. Everything was okay again. This was how my life went by for four years. I survived school for six days of the week, and then I spent the seventh with Terriermon and Takato and Guilmon and Ruki and….

-------

And that was where I was right now. Takato and I were sitting under a tree that was along the banks of a lake, watching Terriermon, Calumon and Guilmon swim and play in the water. The three girls and their Digimon had gone off to do some girl talk by themselves. And, Hirokazu and Kenta were off exploring… somewhere. I had a sneaking suspicion that they were just spying on the girls, like they always do. So, it was just the two of us, and our Digimon. I was reading a book for school, while Takato was doodling on my free hand with a marker. It was a really strange activity that he had taken up a couple of months ago. Being the resident artist, I guess he kind of evolved into the resident tattoo artist. It's not just me, though: Juri and Guilmon are his other two favorite sketchpads. Not to mention the many, many pairs of my jeans that he has "spruced up." He said it was just something to keep his hands busy while we talk about stuff. Whatever. I never minded enough to stop him, and if I really needed to wash it off, I _was _right next to a lake, after all.

"I still can't believe you bring your homework here, Jen. That's against the whole point of coming here, isn't it? To have fun with your friends and relax from the real world!"

"Un." I wasn't really paying attention to him, since I was engrossed in this book, so I just grunted "yes" and "no" occasionally. The main character had just been exiled from the community he lived in because he accidentally killed a man…

"Jen, you're not listening to me."

"Un."

"JEN! IT'S THE D-REAPER!!"

"Sure, Takato, whatever you say."

"JEN!" Takato had lost faith in the ways of verbal communication, and instead resorted to violently shaking me, letting my book clatter to the ground.

"AAHH! Takato! Now you made me lose my page."

"You were on page 200. Now! Stop reading about Okonkwo and start talking to Takato!"

"All right, all right already! Sheesh, you're not giving me much of a choice here."

With a definite "hmph", Takato resumed his sketch of…something. Most of our conversations were like this. Although he didn't look like much, he was really, really possessive of his friends. Whether it was a gigantic, pink monster made of computer data that had almost destroyed the world, or merely a harmless little book, he didn't want anything or anyone in between him and his friends, especially when it was "friend time." I found that to be his most endearing quality. Not that he doesn't have others.

"Now, as I was saying, Jenrya, I really don't think you should bring your homework to the Digital World. It's bad enough that we have to deal with it at home. And, it cuts down on our free time! I think you're going to work yourself to death one of these days."

"Takato, you say this every time I bring something. I'm sorry if I have less time to do work than you guys do because of my Tai Chi lessons, but sometimes I have to bring stuff here if I'm ever going to get everything done."

"Yeah, I know. You're right as always, but I still don't think it's healthy. Here, it's done."

I took back my hand to see what he had drawn this time. It was a small picture of Terriermon and Guilmon playing in the water.

"They just look so happy and carefree. We've probably gone swimming here a bazillion times, but they still have fun every time!"

"You're right. Feel like joining them?"

"But, my masterpiece! It'll wash off your hand! And after all that hard work, too."

"Takato, we always end up in the water with them one way or another. Besides, it's such a lovely day out!"

"It's always a nice day out here! All right, just let me take my shirt off." I quickly took my own shirt off, slipped off my sandals, and sprinted down to the water's edge, Takato struggling to keep up with me.

"Hey guys! Better look out! The cavalry is here!"

"Geez, Jen! You better start watching what you eat if even Takato is calling you a horse!" Terriermon's wit is as sharp as ever… I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly fit 145 pounds! Takato weighs a bit less than me, but probably because I have Tai Chi, and he has…well, drawing I guess.

"All right, Mr. Pudgy, just you wait! You're going to get it now!" And, the Splash War was now on. At first, it seemed like it was going to be humans versus Digimon, but then it quickly eroded into every-man-for-himself after my "best friend" got me right in the face.

I was still having fun, though. It was as if we were still twelve years old and hadn't a care in the world.

After a while, everyone started to gang up on me, so I dived under the water, heading into deep water to get away. Then, out of nowhere, I felt something cold grab my foot. I quickly looked back to see a hideous, black claw that was reaching through the sand on the bottom of the lake and had latched onto my leg. Kicking my legs furiously proved to no avail, so I then tried to call for help.

Except that I had instead gulped a mouthful of water. What was going on? Normally, I don't ever have a problem breathing underwater in the Digital World…

I tried struggling harder to get out of the grip of the weird claw. I even tried to punch it, but the water softened my blows, so it did nothing. The claw had a really strange feel, as if it was made of dead flesh. After a while, I spotted Takato and Terriermon swimming toward me. "Hey Jen, what are you doing?"

Sure. He can breathe underwater just fine, but for some reason I can't… I made motions to try to convey the fact that I couldn't breathe, but I don't think he was getting it. How long do I have to keep doing this before you get the message!! Do they not see the giant claw trying to drown me?!

Ah! I can't take it anymore! I'm breathing in the water. My lungs are starting to burn! How long have I been underwater? I need air…My body convulsed unconsciously from the lack of oxygen… My vision was losing its focus….

I felt two pairs of strong arms pulling me to the surface. But, there was too much water in my system, so I still couldn't breathe…

I was dragged along to shore, barely conscious, and then a pair of hands, most likely Takato's, started to force the water out. That was all I needed to cough the rest up and start gasping for air.

"What happened?"

"I…'gasp'…don't know. Something…'gasp'…grabbed my foot…'gasp'…and then I couldn't breathe…'gasp'"

"It's okay now, Jen." Takato pulled me into a tight embrace, and he was shaking pretty badly, but then again, so was I. Both of our hearts were pounding furiously, and I also didn't realize until now how cold I suddenly was. Terriermon and Guilmon also joined in the group hug. I just sat there, breathing heavily, taking in Takato and Terriermon and Guilmon's body heat. They all look really worried. Takato was the worst, though. He looked like he was on the verge of crying. I probably looked a lot worse than I felt to make them all worried like this. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I didn't want to move, and I don't think any of them did either. It was a while before someone (guess who?) broke the silence.

"I'm really glad you're all right, Jen, but next time, leave the fish interpretations to the experts." I quickly grabbed Terriermon and tickled the daylights out of him. Takato let out some nervous laughter, and I guess he then decided that I was okay again.

"Calumon, what are you doing?" We suddenly stopped and looked at where Guilmon was looking. Calumon was flitting about over the lake looking at something.

"Ohh! I'm just looking for what could have grabbed Jenrya and make him go all cold and dead like that. I think I see something down there, but I don't know! It doesn't look very friendly, whatever it is…"

"Is it a Digimon?"

"I don't think so…"

"Well, anyway I don't think we should swim anymore today."

"Awww! But, Takato, what do we do now? I want to swim some more!"

"Sorry, Guilmon, but what if whatever's out there gets you too! Jenrya almost drowned, and I don't want both of my best friends almost dying in the same day! My heart's pounding enough as it is!"

I silently made my way over to the lake. From the reflection on the water, I could see that my skin was much paler than usual. I almost looked like a ghost. Wow. I guess I didn't realize how close I was to dying. No wonder they all are worried about me.

I made my way back to the tree, deciding that the world of Things Fall Apart was safer than the Digital World at the moment, but something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Takato's drawing, now all blurry, smudged and faded, eerily resembled that claw that had grabbed me. Maybe it was just my imagination. But, for some reason, I wasn't so sure about that…

Takato merely put his hand on my shoulder, sat down next to me, and resigned himself to read over my shoulder, the quietest that he has been all day. I guess an extension of Takato's possessiveness was that he was very touchy-feely. I can definitely see why, though. All of us, especially Takato, Ruki, Juri and I had been through so much together. I guess… that maybe I had some of that in me, too. Just thinking about losing Terriermon again…or Takato…or anyone…

The Digimon were playing a rather loud and energetic game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, without a care in the world. I always wondered how they were able to do that, since they don't really have fingers…

-------

"So, what are you saying? Are you free tomorrow or not?"

"I guess so, Ruki. I can always just call Sensei and get him to change my training session."

"All right. Meet you at the park at 5:00. And don't forget to bring your Biology books!"

"I won't. I'm the responsible one, remember?"

"Whatever. Just, don't be late. And, I know you've probably heard this a million times, but are you sure you're all right?"

"Don't worry. I'm still a bit shaken up from today's events, but physically, I'm back to normal."

"Good. See ya."

Ruki had warmed up considerably to the rest of us since the events that threw us all together. She even chose to be in the same public high school as us, instead of the elite private school that she was accepted into! In fact, in case you couldn't tell, she had just called me to work on our Biology project tomorrow. It was important because it counted for over half of our grade. And, we were in Advanced Placement Biology, so it weighed extra heavily in our grades.

Takato was in my class, too. Juri and Kenta were in the class next to us. But, Hirokazu was in a "speical class" downstairs because he was a "special child" (i.e. he wasn't in advanced classes like the rest of us). In fact, it was a miracle that he was in school at all. His philosophy was that if his life didn't work out, he would just go and live in the Digital World. Needless to say, that reflected heavily on his grades since he would rarely eek out a "B" in any class, if that. I secretly wanted to do the same thing, but whenever those feelings arose, I quickly attributed it to laziness and wanting to run away from problems. Not to mention, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world who couldn't do the same thing…

_It was a really strange phenomenon to say the least. After a couple of years past the D-Reaper incident, almost all recollection of anything to do with Digimon had vanished from the public psyche. No one remembered the many Digimon that had "bio-emerged" and terrorized the Tokyo area. Any damage, such as Vikaralamon's rampage through Shinjuku, had been officially explained as earthquakes. The D-Reaper attack had vanished completely from the records, which is amazing in itself because that spanned the entire world. The whole scenario just faded away as if it had never happened. And, it wasn't a government cover-up or anything like that. It was as if every single person's memory was erased by some metaphysical power._

_But, the really creepy detail involves the card game. It happened almost overnight. One day, about a year and a half since the D-Reaper event, the Digimon cards of every single person that ever played the game vanished. Nothing was left, not the TV show, posters, card slashing machines, not even a trace of a memory had remained._

_Except, for us. The Tamers. We still had our cards, and we still remembered the Digimon show. We remember everything that happened. Our parents remember, too. The Monster Makers remember. I bet Yamaki remembers, but we really haven't seen him since._

_But, no one else. You mutter the word Digimon to a random passerby, and all you'll get are a few blank stares, and maybe a "What? Is that a Chinese word or something?"_

_Well, maybe that last one's just me. But, still, no one knows how or why the existence of Digimon was removed from people's memory. Most likely it was a higher force at work. That's the only conclusion that we could have come up with. We tried to talk to the Digimon Sovereigns about it. But, they kept quiet, only saying the usual, "It's beyond your human capacity to understand." Or something to that effect._

Where was I? Oh yeah, Hirokazu. Well, at this point, I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life, either. I thought of maybe becoming a computer technician, but that's what my brother, Rinchei is doing, and I don't know if my mom could handle three techies in the family.

I just don't know.

"Hey, Jenrya, could you give us a hand?"

Speaking of computer technicians…

Dad was in the computer room, where he spent almost all of his time, nowadays. He and Rinchei were currently typing commands in like crazy into three of our computers. He waved me over to the central monitor. All I could see was Digital Code. I wonder what he wanted?

"All right, get out your Digivice, and let's see what happens."

"Wait. You mean that…it's ready?"

For a while, in his spare time, my dad, with Rinchei's help, has been working on a program to negate the effects of the Juggernaut field, or somehow create a loophole that would allow our Digimon to come through to the real world, and not other, potentially hostile ones. Needless to say, he hasn't had much success so far, but he has been persistent, and he recently had a brilliant idea. He was trying to connect the Digital World to the Internet and extract the Digimon from computers using the power of my Digivice as a beacon to attract their data, acting as a direct connection between the worlds, like how they retrieved the Ark from the Digital World. Only, this time, it would be modified to bypass the Bio-Emergence process altogether and, hopefully, any interference from the anti-Digital field. It was supposed to be just like how they traveled in between the real world and the Digital World in the show. I originally thought that that would require at the very least the computing power of the main computer at Hypnos, but Dad really seemed confident that it would work on just regular computers. And, like I've said, we haven't seen Yamaki in a long time, anyway.

"Not quite. I've already made the corrections to the Digital Gate, but I just want to experiment and see what happens this time when we place the Digivice as a beacon. Rinchei and I will be monitoring the scenario from these other screens."

"Okay, if you say so." I held out my D-Arc in front of the main computer where Dad was previously. All of a sudden, it glowed. I was impressed. There was definitely a reaction. More surprisingly, the computer screen also seemed to become brighter. The computer code changed into a black and white picture of what I assumed was the Digital World. I had an urge to shout out 'Digi-Port, Open!'

"Rinchei, enter the main access code. Then, monitor the data flow and check for interference. I'll try and get a lock on the Digimon's data."

"Wait a second! Dad, I thought we weren't going further with this, yet!"

"Well, everything seems to be going smoothly. Let's just see what happens when we take it to the next level. Okay, I have a lock on Terriermon."

"Dad…." I have a really bad feeling about this. I can tell something is going to go wrong.

"Dad! Something just entered the Digital Mainframe! It's interfering with the gate mechanism! All of the safeties are being broken! Attempting to compensate."

"AAH!" The Digivice in my hand started to vibrate very rapidly as the light increased in intensity. I knew it. This isn't going to end well.

"What is it, Rinchei? Try and stop it now before the data flux becomes too much!"

"I'm trying! It's some sort of virus! I'm trying to neutralize it, but it seems to be attacking something…"

"Wait! I see it over here! No, it's Terriermon! It's attacking Terriermon! It's routing itself through our computers and then though my lock-on! It's attempting to decompile Terriermon's core matrix program!"

"DAD! If anything happens to Terriermon….!"

"I KNOW, JENRYA! JUST GIVE ME SOME TIME!"

The light was blinding now. I had to shut my eyes and turn away. I tried to move my hand with the D-Arc away from the computer screen, but it was locked in place. I couldn't move!

"DAD!"

"Dad! A surge of data is attempting to break through the gate! But, this data… it's not coming from the Digital World!"

"What in Heaven's name is going on in here?"

My mom picked a wonderful time to come in the door. But, I barely registered her presence, as I had more pressing issues to deal with.

Terriermon was going to be okay! He'll survive this! He's got to…

"Jen? What are you waiting for?" Huh? Was that…Terriermon's voice?

"C'mon Jen! Let's go!" I opened my eyes to see that I was surrounded by light. I slowly looked forward to see Terriermon, floating in mid-air.

"Go? Go… where?"

"I dunno! But, I bet it'll be fun!"

And, my feet, of their own accord, pushed off from the ground, and I began floating towards Terriermon. I think I heard my family faintly call out to me in the background. But, their shouts barely registered in my mind as I continued to slowly float to Terriermon. I doubt I could have turned back anyway. My body… wasn't under my control anymore. As soon as I reached Terriermon, the hand with the D-Arc swung around to touch him. I felt a jerk as we started accelerating towards…_who knows where_? DO YOU THINK I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON?!?

-------

"C'mon, sleepyhead! Aren't you the one who always wakes up three hours before the rest of us?"

"Uuh." I mindlessly swatted at Terriermon's nagging voice as I sat up. I looked at our surroundings. We were in some sort of forest, and it was daytime out. But, the types of plants in this forest… were very different from any that I've seen before. Where are we?

I stood up to get a better view, silently thanking whoever or whatever it was that sent us here that they remembered my shoes. Let's see… I have my D-Arc, my cell phone and my wallet… Great. At least I'm not totally helpless…

"Hey, Jen! There's someone over there!" Terriermon pointed down one path that led away from where I was as he clambered up onto my shoulder.

"Can you hear anything that might tell us where we are?"

"Nothing in particular… although, they do have Digimon with them! In fact… there's Digimon everywhere, in every direction! We're surrounded by Digimon!"

"But, that can't be right! This doesn't look like the Digital World at all! So… where are we?"

"You think I know? I was minding my business, being a good little Digimon and all, and then, from out of nowhere, this weird claw shoots out from underneath me and pulls me into the ground! Next thing I knew, I was sitting on top of you here!"

"What? No way!" Something was after us. I knew it. The claw that took Terriermon had to be the same claw that almost drowned me. I looked at the drawing on my hand. It had almost disappeared. But, what was left…It was that claw! This is not a good sign. We have to keep our guard up.

"Jen! They're moving towards us!"

"What? All of them?!"

"No, silly, just those people that are over there!"

"Oh." I was a bit hesitant to make contact with the residents of…. wherever we were. But, if we don't, we might not figure out where we are. Well…here goes nothing. "All right. Let's go."

"Are you sure?"

"Moumentai, Terriermon."

"HEY! That's my line!"

"I know. So, take your own advice for once!" We walked down the path a little ways, continuing our usual bickering. At least…I'm not alone in this place. Thank goodness for that.

"Hello? Who's there?"

A voice… "Hello?"

I could make out four figures through the trees. But, when I got closer and could make out who they were….Oh my. This is…Wow. I was _not_ expecting this!

There were two guys, both about a couple years older than me. One had long, bushy brown hair while the other had straight, shiny blonde hair.

Their Digimon were with them. An Agumon and a Gabumon.

I recognized them immediately. They were Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida.

Somehow, I had been thrown into the continuity of the Digimon Adventure series.

"Hey, you all right, kid?"

I didn't answer. I just kept staring at them. I didn't know what to think of this development. I looked back to Terriermon. He was just staring at them, too. I knew it! I knew he got into my Digimon DVD's when I was at school! Wait, how do I still remember that? And, that's not important right now!!

"Tch, how do you like that, Yamato? We're so famous, we can't go anywhere in the Digital World without people gaping at us, starstruck!"

"Er… no no no, wait! You just surprised me! When I heard people, I wasn't expecting….well…."

"Uh huh. Sure. Anyway, you came to check out the meteor, too, right?"

Meteor…? Wait, is that how we got here? "Um… yeah! I was in the area…and….it landed just over there. It looked interesting… so I thought to go check it out!"

"All right! Well, then, today happens to be your lucky day! Because you happened to be in the right place at the right time, you get to accompany the two top leaders of the DigiDestined on our perilous expedition to see the meteor! Now, you already know who we are, so how 'bout you?"

"Er…" Well, Tai seems to be just as energetic as I remember from the show. "My name is Jenrya. And, this is Terriermon."

"Nice ta meet ya!"

"Jenrya! That's a nice name! I'm Agumon!"

"Don't forget me! Gabumon's the name!"

I shook hands with both Digimon, still trying to grasp the fact that this was _actually happening to me!_

Then, with two of the Fantastic Four on either side of me, the six of us marched back towards where Terriermon and I woke up. My mind was currently going over all of this new information.

I was in the Digital World. Not our Digital World, but _the_ Digital World. And, of all the places that I could have ended up, it had to be right next to Taichi and Yamato.

My best option right now is to play the anonymous fan-boy. Try to blend in with this world and not make waves. Then, later on, try to find out exactly how I got here, if anyone or anything is behind it, and, more importantly, how to get home. That sounds like a plan. I mustered up all of my Digimon hopes and dreams from when I was twelve and did my best to act like the crazed Digimon fanboy that I have to admit I was. "So, what are you two doing here anyway? Is there anything special about this meteor? Are you guys going to have to fight to save the world, again? Can I come with you guys if that happens?"

Our little group suddenly stopped as both of the DigiDestined (and Terriermon, of course) burst out laughing. Well, I guess it's working.

"I guess you guys _are_ fans of ours, huh? Nah, we're just like you. We were nearby, saw it, and decided to come look. From what we could tell, it was just a regular meteor. It wasn't an attack from an UltraDarkDevimon or anything like that!"

"Aw, okay."

Putting aside my curiosity about why the two of them were alone out here in the first place, I was able to confirm my suspicions about our arrival when we stopped in the exact spot that Terriermon and I woke up in. There was a small crater there that I must not have noticed before.

"Well, we're here. See anything special?"

"Hmmm." Our four acquaintances formed a circle around the hole, inspecting it. There wasn't room for me or Terriermon, but we stayed close anyways. A loud rustling from some of the bushes in front of us was distracting me, though.

"Well, I don't see anything. Not even a big rock, except…'BONK'… Hey! What was that for, Agumon?"

We all slowly looked up to where Agumon was pointing. Oh man. Not him again…

"RAAAAAAAWR!!!" A big, angry Gorillamon. With his cannon pointed straight at us, ready to fire.

Why? Why is he here? Why can't he just leave me alone!?


	2. National Meet the DigiDestined Day

Once again, I don't own Digimon. Never can be too careful with the disclaimers...

Thanks, every one who reviewed! I'm really glad you like it!

Note: 'Sasuke' is the official name for "Ninja Warrior," in case you didn't know.

-------

"Tai! It's one of them! Let me get him!"

"Let me help, Yama!"

Something was not right with this situation. As I watched Agumon and Gabumon Digivolve, I wondered what exactly was going on here. At least from what I remember from the show, the DigiDestined only battled if they had to. Normally, they would be running away or trying to talk it out. So, why are they now…?

"Greymon, are you sure it's one of them?"

"_Energy Cannon!"_ Garurumon quickly shoved us out of the way of the attack, and retaliated with one of his own.

"Does that answer your question, Tai? Now, I think we should move away, this could get dangerous." I felt a hand roughly grab me by my shirt and start to dragging me away from the battle.

"Could someone please tell me who exactly you mean by 'they'?" The battle continued in the background as Yamato pulled me and Terriermon to a safe location. He quickly got out his D-Terminal and started typing away.

"Have you really not seen the news for the past month, Jenrya?"

"Well…I…"

"Nope! Jen here doesn't like watching T.V. He just spends all of his time online, doing who knows what…"

"Terriermon! I do not!"

Yamato simply smiled at us before continuing. "I'm surprised you haven't heard about them yet. Well, recently, strange Digimon have started showing up randomly in the Digital World…"

A huge explosion quickly ended our conversation. Taichi was quickly running towards us with an unconscious Rookie Digimon in each hand. Behind him was an angry Gorillamon, slightly bruised, but clearly still with enough energy to shoot energy bursts after the fleeing DigiDestined.

"Jen! Let me help them! You know I have experience with battling Gorillamon!"

Yamato ran over to help out Taichi, and I quickly started running away in a different direction. We stopped and hid behind a huge tree. I reached into my pockets….only to realize what I should have realized earlier… "Terriermon…"

"Stop wasting time, Jen! It's time to kick some monkey tail!"

"I don't have any cards with me."

"WHAT? _And, you're telling me this now_?"

"_Energy Cannon!_" 'BAM' Ah! There goes the tree we were hiding behind! I quickly resumed my sprinting, wondering where the heck the other two were. Why is he going after us?

"This is quickly becoming a problem!"

"Problem? We're being chased by an angry ape with a laser cannon, we don't have any modify cards nor do we have Calumon with us so Digivolution is out of the question_, and you'__re saying this is only 'becoming a__ problem__'__?!"_

"Sheesh, Jen! Things could be worse, you know. I see you still haven't grasped the concept of 'Moumentai,' yet."

"Forget Moumentai, look!" We suddenly ran out of forest…and almost ran off the edge of a cliff. There were too many trees on either side of us to run away. How… typical.

"Um, Jen, what do we do now?"

"Well, if this were a TV show or a movie, this is where we get saved. So, start saying your prayers!" The Gorillamon stopped a few meters away from us. He just sat there and… stared at us….?

"Terrier Tornado!" The attack comically blew some dead leaves in his face, but that was it. I don't think that helped our situation very much.

"Terrier…mon. Terriermon! TERRIERMON!!"

"Wonderful. He knows my name. Now that that's settled, could we maybe be friends now?"

"DESTROY TERRIERMON!!"

"I'll take that as a maybe."

"Terriermon!" Why do have the feeling that this is the same Gorillamon that the two of us know and love so well? Probably because he chose to go after us and not Taichi and Yamato…

_"Energy Cannon!"_The two of us managed to dodge the full extent of the blast, but… the cliff side didn't. I couldn't help screaming as we plunged down the side of the cliff…

…only to find myself caught by a pair of white arms. I guess Yamato called Takeru and Hikari to help. "Angemon! Thank you!"

"I'm glad we could help. Human and bunny pancakes are two foods that I don't particularly enjoy."

"Hey! I'm not a bunny!" I quickly looked around. Terriermon had been caught by Angewomon. We slowly floated down to the ground below.

Two very familiar figures rushed up to greet us as we reached the ground.

"Are you all right?" I quickly nodded to Hikari, and gave another "thank you" to Angemon and Angewomon as they flew up the cliff.

"That must have been pretty scary."

"Yeah, it was. I haven't fallen like that in a long time. Thank you, too, Takeru, Hikari."

"Um… you're welcome, but how do you know our names?" Er…

"Um…you two are part of the Original Twelve, right?" Well, Taichi seemed used to the attention...

"Heh, yeah, I guess we are. But, how would you know that?"

"Um…well…" Think Jenrya…

"Hey, Jenrya! You OK?" I looked up at my name, to find Angemon and Angewomon carrying Tai, Matt and their Digimon down to us. I waved at them, gladly taking this wonderful opportunity to change the subject.

"We're fine, thanks to these guys! How about you?"

"Oh, you know, just peachy," Matt smartly replied.

We waited for them to land before we continued our conversation.

Takeru was the first to talk. "So, I take it that you were attacked by another rogue Digimon?"

Rogue Digimon. Store that in my head for now…

"Yes. Without a doubt, it definitely felt like one. Thankfully, it was only a Champion this time. I don't know what we would've done if it was another Mega like last week." Angewomon said as she motioned to the two unconscious Digimon in her hands.

"Don't remind me. Well, we definitely need to tell Koushiro about this. We need to all get together and discuss these events. We should probably talk to Gennai, too."

"You're right, Tai. Will Tuesday be enough time to get everyone together?"

"I think so. Now, I think we should all head back now so we can tell the others."

I kept my distance from them during their conversation, calmly trying to take in as much information as I could. We then set out for the nearest portal, which was the one that Takeru and Hikari had appeared out of to save us. Terriermon and I dropped back a bit from the others to talk to each other.

"So, what are we going to do now, Jen?"

"Our first priority should be to find somewhere to stay, since it's almost dark. Miraculously, I have about ¥25000 with me, which should be enough to find a cheap hotel somewhere…but, we'll either have to find a permanent solution soon, or find a way to get back before that money gets used up. Not to mention food and other expenses."

"Of course, we can't forget food!"

"And, try not to say anything about where we're from! I really don't want to explain this to anyone. We don't even know ourselves what's going on."

"Hey, Jenrya!" I quickly looked up at my name so see everyone looking at me. Umm…

"Yeah, Taichi?"

"I was just wondering where you were from."

"Ummm…Shinjuku. Why do you ask?"

"Because, we're at the portal, and I need to tell it where to send you. Unless you want me to send you to the middle of nowhere."

Oh, well, so we have arrived. The 'portal' looked a lot bigger than what I remember from the show. In fact, apparently, someone must have upgraded all the TV's to big-screen. With lots of buttons on the bottom that Taichi was messing with. Probably how he was telling it to take me to Shinjuku…

"What a coincidence! Kari and I were just in Shinjuku when we left to rescue you guys. At least we only have to make one trip."

"Huh? Oh… are Yamato and Taichi coming back with us, too?"

"Yeah. I mean, you know how hard it is to send people different places with these things, don't you?"

"Of course! But…"

"Right. Well then, care to do the honors, oh little brother of mine?"

"Tch. All right. Here we go. Digi Port Open!" Takeru held up his D-Tector and a bright light engulfed us, sending us back to the real world.

As we were pulled along into the computer, I wondered if my D-Arc could open Digital Portals as well. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try the next time, and it would be very convenient if it could.

Upon emerging in Shinjuku, I found myself in a very familiar place: the Shinjuku train station. It was as crowded as ever, but the strange thing was that everyone had Digimon with them! Wow… Seeing all the people and Digimon partnered up took a while to get used to. This, of course, only made it that much more crowded, but at least most of the Digimon were small and easy to carry. They probably have restrictions about the size of Digimon that can use the subway.

As we got out, I looked up at the familiar sights. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices were as tall and creepy as ever. Some of the other governmental buildings were out of place, though. This Shinjuku was different from my Shinjuku, but I guess that's to be expected.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways! "

"Yeah. It was nice to meet you all!"

"Bye, Jenrya! It was nice meeting you, too!"

"I hope we will meet again."

"That's a definite possibility! You never know what'll happen in the future. But, I think maybe you should stay away from the Digital World for a while until we can sort out this problem, OK? Bye." The four of them headed away from the station, into the touristy area of Shinjuku.

Now, where do I go? It's still daylight, so we don't have to get a hotel _right_ now…

I pondered this for a minute, until I had an idea. We left in the opposite direction of the four DigiDestined, towards something that might help us.

"Um, Jenrya? Why are we heading to the bakery? I doubt that Takato lives in this universe, you know? There may not even be a bakery there. I mean, look there! Your favorite camera shop is now a boutique for girly Digimon clothes!"

"We're not going to the bakery. The library is just down the street from his house, remember? At least, in our world it is."

"Oh, Jenrya! We're stuck in another world, and all you want to do is do your homework?"

"No, Terriermon! We're going to research this world, and see if we can't find anything that can help us get back!"

"I knew that, Jenrya! I'm not stupid! You just can't take a joke."

"Terriermon, now isn't the time for jokes."

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood!"

I sighed, before continuing. "While we've both seen the show, we don't really know anything about what happened after the MaloMyotismon battle. So, naturally, if we're going to fit in, we'd better learn all that we can. We may inadvertently break quite a few laws regarding Digimon which is definitely something that we want to avoid at all costs. So… "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. All of that 'detail' stuff that you love to fiddle around with. Hey, look at that! Talk about remodeling!" I looked over to where Terriermon was pointing. I recognized this place. We were exactly where the Matsuda Bakery is in my world. Except that instead of a bunch of little stores, there was a huge office building that took up the entire block. The name was even more curious. Apparently, it was the 'Main Office of the International Commission for Human-Digital Relations.' This looked promising. I was especially curious about how the worlds' governments would have handled having Digimon around. I'm sure most wouldn't have been too pleased, since they naturally posed a large security threat, not to mention the huge increase in agricultural production that would be required to feed them all. I know it took quite a big chunk of my allowance to feed Terriermon, a relatively small Digimon. Imagine if someone had something much larger! And, then imagine a whole country of them!

"Let's make sure to stop by there sometime later. C'mon. I see the library, and it still looks like a library."

The library, for all intents and purposes, was the same as I remembered it. Same white color, same location. It was slightly larger than I remembered, though. They must have added a story or two.

The receptionist was different, though. It wasn't anyone that I recognized, even though we were the same age. I guess the people in this world are all completely different. She was too busy reading what appeared to be a romance novel to notice my presence. She had a Kunemon with her… I guess that's appropriate. I politely coughed to get her attention. "Ah! Welcome to the Tsunohazu Regional Library! Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"Yes. I'm doing a report on human-Digimon relations for my Politics class. I'm particularly interested in the history of events surrounding the Digital World. Would you mind showing me to the correct section?"

"Well, you definitely came to the right place. Did you already visit that large building across the street? You can get a lot of good info over there!"

"I plan to sometime. I wanted to start my research here, first, though."

"All right. The entire third floor is devoted to the subject. Knock yourself out."

"Thank you very much." I nodded my head in thanks, as I went up the staircase, Terriermon on my shoulder as always.

All right, where to begin? I looked across the books, trying to find something that looked remotely interesting. Well, it's not that I didn't care about Gizamon uprisings against the government of Bhutan, but I need something a bit broader.

"Hey, Jen! Look at this one!" I looked at the book that Terriermon pointed out. It was a book that looked very out of place. It was a children's book, with huge text and colorful pictures and all. But, it only told of MaloMyotismon's defeat at the hands of a group of special children. "Can I look at it? I never really got around to finishing the videos."

"Sure, go ahead. Just be careful with it."

"Excuse me, but could I get by, please?" I looked around to the voice: a boy slightly younger than me with an Armadillomon. Why am I meeting all of these DigiDestined in Shinjuku? I quietly moved against the bookcase to allow him to go on by. That was awkward. I just sighed and returned to looking at books.

"Hey, this looks interesting!" I pulled out a rather thick book with the auspicious title of 'An Analytical Comparison of International Digital Law.' I skimmed the Table of Contents to see that it had everything I wanted. Restrictions on Digimon in the Human World, restrictions on visiting the Digital World, restrictions on Virus Digimon…It even had a small section on the original DigiDestined! This is just what I need!

"Don't tell me that you're going to read _that_!"

"Why not? It has everything we need to know."

"But, it's HUGE! And, the print is so small, you can barely see it!"

"Books are your friends, Terriermon. Here, see? First thing from this book: No Digimon is allowed to use an attack in the Human World. Remember that."

"Is today just going to be filled with 'Don't do this!' and 'Don't do that!'?"

"Unfortunately. While I hope that we can figure out what is going on soon, we have to be prepared just in case this takes a long time. In which case, we need this information. Now, shall we go get something to eat?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

-------

Memories flooded my head as Terriermon and I sat on the steps leading to 'Guilmon's shed' eating some Takoyaki. The place always had a special connection to our Digital World, and I couldn't think of a better place to eat our late lunch. The Park's layout was somewhat different in this world, so that the shed faced an open field. There were some kids my age playing a game of soccer, and they had asked me to join. But, I was happy enough with reading about construction and development limitations in the Digital World. I was secretly glad that Japan had convinced the world not to allow companies to build factories and such in the Digital World.

I had just finished the section about Digimon in the 'Human World.' Apparently, no Digimon over eight feet tall or 500 pounds could live with his/her partner, at least in the Tokyo area, anyway. They had to live in special designated reserves outside of town. It sounds depressing, but I guess it would be a problem if someone had, say, a Seadramon. And, there was more, like how you had to register and obtain a license from the government if your Digimon could Digivolve to Ultimate or Mega.

I looked over at Terriermon, who had just finished his bag of Takoyaki, and reached in to my bag to get some of mine. Well, without any cards, Terriermon can't Digivolve at all. There's still Biomerging… but I don't know if that'll work here, and I don't want to have to explain it to someone who sees us…We'll save that for a last resort. Just in case we have to fight something.

"Ew! That one still had its suction cups, and it stuck to the roof of my mouth!"

"That happens sometimes when you eat octopus." I mindlessly popped another Takoyaki into my mouth as I turned to the section on the Digi-Destined. It just gave a brief overview of what happened. i.e. there were twelve original DigiDestined (names not given; I should have remembered that Japanese law forbids the media to mention the names of minors) who defeated MaloMyotismon, and allowed the two worlds to converge peacefully. Eventually, the leader of the DigiDestined, Taichi Yagami, became one of the top representatives of the Digital World in International Politics, and a key figure in shaping many of the world's current policies, and so on and so forth…

"Jen, look out!"

I quickly looked up at Terriermon's cry to see him swat away a soccer ball that was on a collision course with my face. Hehe… Perhaps reading a book next to a soccer game wasn't a good idea…

"Are you okay, kid?" A guy with spiky brown hair and a Veemon came running up to us to get the soccer ball. All right, what is going on here? Is today National Meet-the-DigiDestined Day? I get the message!! Stay close to the DigiDestined.

"Yeah. Luckily, Terriermon here has great reflexes."

"Mm hm! There isn't a video game in creation that can stop me!!"

"Really? That's awesome! I'll have to come to Shinjuku again sometime so I can play you!"

"Daisuke, don't forget me! I love video games!"

"Of course, Veemon!"

"So…Daisuke is it? Where are you from, then, if not around here?"

"Oh, I live over in Odaiba. I had an appointment here in Shinjuku earlier this morning, and on the way back, I got caught up in this game. Well, it was nice meeting ya', er…."

"Jenrya. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same. Bye!"

I silently watched Daisuke head back to the soccer game, before closing the book and grabbing the now empty Takoyaki bags.

"Are we going now?"

"Yes. We're going to Odaiba to find a hotel."

"I had a feeling we were going to go there. But, isn't it expensive to get a hotel there?"

"Well, it's definitely cheaper than here in Shinjuku. And, something tells me that we should probably keep an eye on the DigiDestined. Whatever these rogue Digimon that they mentioned are, I think that we're somehow involved." We exited the park, and made our way back to the Shinjuku train station.

"Well, you know I'm here behind you, one hundred percent! Even if I can't Digivolve."

"Right. Too bad we can't do anything about that. But, at least it won't draw attention to us. Apparently, any Digimon that can Digivolve to Ultimate or Mega has to carry around a special license and be registered with the government."

"Hey, I bet if worse comes to worse, we can Biomerge!"

"I wouldn't count on it, but… we'll just keep that as our trump card, OK?" The train station was busier than usual for some reason. I looked up at the large clock in front of the platform. It was now five o'clock, my favorite time of day. Rush hour.

"Sure. Hey, hurry up! The train leaves in two minutes!"

"All right, already, sheesh! I'd like to see you get through this mob of people one of these days!"

-------

"Odaiba! Odaiba!"

I jumped for joy as I exited the station to see the district of Odaiba, free from the confines of that train! I'm not fond of rush-hour traffic at all, especially since this time I was scrunched up against a Meramon. I was so afraid that my clothes would catch on fire.

"So, this is Odaiba. I see they still have that funny looking TV Station. And, there's that big Ferris wheel!"

"Now, you know why we're here. We're here to keep an eye on the DigiDestined."

"Right! It's time for Terriermon, Master of the Shadows, and his pal Jenrya Lee, the ultimate Chinese fighting force to unite and becooome… The Super Ninja Duo! Masters of spying and subterfuge! KaPOW! No evil Digimon stands a chance!"

Several passersby burst out laughing, as I stared at an overly enthusiastic friend of mine, trying my hardest to keep a straight face and not laugh, too.

"We're not overthrowing an evil empire! We don't even need to be so sneaky! We just need to keep tabs on everything without looking too suspicious. Think you can do that?"

"No problem." The two of us kept walking, passing many apartment buildings and houses, but we had yet to come across a single hotel. Perhaps if we head down to the beach area, where all the tourists go…

"_Psst_! Love Bird and Violet Death are approaching! Requesting action plan, over!"

"Wha…?"

"Sora and Miyako! Straight ahead! What do we do?"

I have a feeling that someone is enjoying this a bit too much for his own good… "We keep walking, pretend that we have no idea who they are, and continue our search for a hotel."

"And accidently listen in to their conversation?"

"What are they talking about?"

"Boys. What else?"

I was fighting a smile as we passed the two girls, strangely Digimon-less, as they continued on talking and walking. I was more interested in the black building down the street with a sign saying "Hotel Sakura" on it.

Luckily, this hotel wasn't too expensive. ¥9200 a night is relatively cheap for Tokyo. The hotel overlooked a nice park, and it came with a free breakfast. I requested a room for two nights (all I could afford) and sat down in the lobby, waiting as they prepared a room for us.

"That was rather simple. I'm surprised."

"Terriermon, look at this!" I picked up a newspaper on the nearby table, which ever so conveniently had as the front page headline, "File Island Village Still Reeling in Shock from Rogue Digimon Attack."

"_It was a horrible day. I was just going along for a stroll when all of a sudden this huge __Digimon__ appeared, asked if I wanted to fight, __then__ started hurling lasers at me before I could even talk about the weather!" This man's story details just one of the increasing __number__ of attacks by rogue __Digimon__ that are threatening the stability of the Digital World. For those of you who have been hiding under rocks for the past few weeks, a rogue __Digimon__ is just that. They do not appear to be contaminated by a Virus, nor are they necessarily Virus __Digimon__ themselves. However, they appear random__ly and only want to fight and cause __destruction__. No one seems to know why these __Digimon__ want to fight. _

_"The really strange thing about these __Digimon__ is that they apparently are not native citizens of the Digital World. By this, I mean that no one appears to have seen these particular __Digimon__ before. It's as if they simply come into existence the moment they start attacking and wreaking havoc." Resident Digital expert __Koushiro__ Izumi told us. "In fact, there was one particular __Digimon__ who attacked the southern end of the Folder continent two weeks ago. He called himself, '__Orochimon__.' However, there is no evidence in any of the databanks that a species called __Orochimon__ ever existed in the Digital World. We feel that the most likely scenario is that these __Digimon__ are being created by some unknown force. __For what reason?__ I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that one."_

_One thing's for sure: you'd do well to reschedule your family vacation to the beaches of Server until this mess has quieted down._

"Excuse me, Mr. Lee? Your room is now available."

"Thank you." I took my room key and made my way up the stairs to my room.

"I think that I was right about us. I think that we are involved in this somehow."

"So, does this mean that you think those Digimon…are from our world?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? We know of an Orochimon in our world, and they said that these Digimon only want to fight."

"Well, yeah, but that's changed, remember? Almost all of the Digimon nowadays are peaceful. No one goes around deleting other Digimon for data, at least, that I know about."

"Hmmm. I just don't know." I unlocked the door to our room, placed the book on the dresser, and sat down on the bed. I couldn't help but sigh. Things were not going well today.

'click' The TV turned on to an episode of Sasuke. One of the guys was trying to cross the water on a rope bridge, but he kept slipping and fell into the water. I don't know why it was funny, but I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing.

"Finally! I've been trying to get you to laugh all day!"

"Why?"

"Because, you're just being so serious! Lighten up! So what if we got blown into another world? So what if there are weird Digimon trying to blow the place up? Relax! This could be a good thing! Think of this as a vacation! It's not every day that TV shows come to life! Besides, we've never come across a problem that we couldn't handle!"

I would normally have much more to say to him, but with Sasuke's announcer prattling away in the background, I just couldn't stay serious. "You win. Now, what do you want to do?"

-------

_Two hours later..._

"HOH HOHO! Katsumi Yamada has reached the Pipe Slider! This infamous obstacle got him in the tenth competition, but it looks like he's ready for it this time! He's shaking his body! Move that body! He's almost reached the gap, but what's this? He's slowing down! It looks like he's slipping… oh! He fell! That's it, Katsumi Yamada..."


End file.
